VIII-Nothing Else Matters (Ania)

[Marcus Grant]

So close no matter how far
Couldn't be much more from the heart
Forever trusting who we are
And nothing else matters

Marcus and Ania had come a long way since they met. He had fallen in love with her, as she stood by him through the worst times of his life, and making a new path to a better future for both of them. So far, his life had given him nothing but lemons, and he had made some hard lemonade out of it. That was about to change, and it was Ania who he had to thank for that. His family was gone, but not forgotten. He knew the right thing to do, and that was to move forward. He could maybe one day see his family continue, on to a new generation. There were children out there, with a chance to grow up. And he had met the love of his life, the woman he wanted to take for a wife.


Marcus had the idea to take her to Los Angeles for the weekend, a vacation from their jobs in Los Vegas. They walked beside the ocean, watched the sun set and rise over the endless ocean. The went up and down Rodeo Drive, and they had a Saturday of fun in the sunny California scene. It was a good time all in all, and it was only going to made better tonight. He had booked reservations at the Palm, which seemed like the ticket for a memorable evening and a well executed proposal. The ring he had purchased several weeks ago, and he had been preparing all else incrementally since. It was a very delicate operation, but his experience as a Company agent and Marine were very informative as to how go about such things. It had to be just right, he wasn't going to go down as the dumbass who botched his proposal. No, he was too damn good for that. He was the damn shining knight, after all.

He used to be anyway, but the world wasn't that simple. Tonight it was, however. No wars, no politics, no sorrow, no loss, no desire for vengeance against those who had wronged him. None of the complexity that had come to define him, the man who had above all desired a simple life. But there was a simplicity in the one truth that mattered. He loved Ania Ovechkin, and if all else in his life had a meaning, that had to be it. That in spite of everything, he could still love another human being. It was like there was hope, in spite of all the devastation.

That was surely a good thing.


He looked across the table, into her eyes and smiled. This was something a long time coming, really. A matter of time, an event he might have foreseen if he hadn't been absorbed in all the pain and tragedy preceding it. Well. It was life, and it was his life. Not much he could do about it now, was there? The waiter poured their champagne, and asked for their orders. Marcus would be having steak, as he had heard it was good here. But that was peripheral.

" Ania," Marcus said, " I hope you've enjoyed yourself today. I am glad we did this."


These things needed some build-up. Some light conversation, some fine dining, a little bit of dessert, and a lot of champagne. And then the question. The question, that was the point of all this. Nothing else really mattered. But he had to do this correctly, and there was all the time in the world. Savoring everything, that was something he had been taught to do by the sad turns his life had taken...he cherished everything now.

[Ania Ovechkin]

Ania couldn't recall the last time where her life had seemed truly perfect. For as long as she could remember, she had been running away from something or someone. Ania felt that she would never have a chance to live that normal life, that perhaps she would be on the run for the rest of her life. Thankfully, this was no longer the case. Sure, she still had many demons following after her but now had something to keep her mind off of all the badness that was likely headed her way. Meeting Marcus had surely opened her eyes to the prospect of a new beginning and now, her life was at its best.

Her brothers were settled now, better behaved and no longer making reckless decisions which were landing them in trouble. They no longer required a baby sitter so she was able to enjoy the life she had made for herself with the man of her dreams. Marcus had not had it easy either, from pretty much the first instance they'd met..things just seemed to go downhill for him. But, now things were beginning to look up and life had gotten much easier.

Without her abilities, she found her life became somewhat normal..something she'd never had before. Though, she did quite miss her abilities, she felt that they were not something she would forever miss. Suffice to say, that when they came back she wasn't sure how she felt..especially about having to learn it all over again for several months before they were fully restored.

Coming to Los Angeles would be a nice getaway for the two of them before work started up again. She was optimistic about returning to the company and couldn't wait to see what Grace had in store for them. For now, work was at the back of her mind because the important thing right here was the man sitting across the table from her.

" I hope you've enjoyed yourself today. I am glad we did this." Marcus spoke after placing his order. Ania knew what he was going to order before the words even left his mouth, something she had never been able to do before. She knew him better then she had ever gotten to know anyone, he was her entire world and she hoped he knew that. Ania smiled at him "I've had a wonderful time, I can't think of anything more perfect. " She replied honestly. She hadn't really had chance to travel with the intention of seeing the sights as the only time she'd ever done so in the past was for business or to hide. This was something she couldn't fault and being with him made it that more perfect.

[Marcus Grant]

Never opened myself this way
Life is ours, we live it our way
All these words I don't just say
And nothing else matters

"I've had a wonderful time, I can't think of anything more perfect. "

Perfect. It was a life far from perfect that Marcus had been living, but his relationship with Ania had made it seem as if it were. He had lost everything, and in that moment, she came into his life. The workings of fate had moved in ways he didn't have any hope of understanding. His father had to be thinking the same thing. He had lost his family thanks to events that he was no party to. He had lost them to a job he no longer had. He had lost them, and he nearly lost Marcus. But the old man had also made a friend, a friend who seemingly played no small part in laying down the groundwork for the two men to reconcile. At least there would be someone to connect his future to his past.

" That's good to hear," Marcus said, " Strange to think about it, too. We were in our own versions of Hell the day we met. And since then, we have made it through to something like peace. As close to it as you can get these days, anyways."

Marcus considered the lives they once had lived. She had been a fugitive, and he was a man lost in a maelstrom of terror and insanity- a man scarred by war, at home and abroad. But the world had moved on, and his life was changing. War seemed to never end, but life was more important. He had learned that lesson the hardest way, after all. The suffering, the pain and loss...it had to be for a damn good reason. He knew what the reason was, and she was looking into his eyes right in this moment.

Moments of silence between them seemed to speak volumes, and right now was no exception. Maybe she knew what he was planning, every thought in his head? He would bet money on it. And she knew without asking how he felt. That was a certainty he had come to cherish in an uncertain world.

He may have no control how events played out in the future, but he had Ania. Maybe she was all he needed, and he was all she needed. He really wanted to believe that. He needed to believe that. They could be their self-contained world, and damn everyone else.

But, no. The world outside still would call on him. It would call on them both. And they would answer.

Like clockwork, the waiter broke his introspection with the arrival of their meals. He smiled, and wondered to himself if the steak would be worth the price on the menu. His time with Ania was priceless without a doubt, but a steak had to prove itself worth the dollar. Even if it came with fancy trappings.

He looked to the waiter, and Ania, and displayed a wry grin, "Ain't this the part where you tell us 'Bon appetite' ?"

The waiter was not amused.